1. Technical Field
Aspects of the present invention relate to a data transmission device configured to search for user information and to execute data transmission based on the searched user information.
2. Related Art
Data transmission devices capable of executing data transmission by obtaining user information concerning destination addresses of users from a directory server (e.g., an LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) server) and using the user information as a destination address (e.g., a FAX number, or an e-mail address) for the data transmission are widely used. In Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 2004-274486A (hereafter, referred to as JP 2004-274486A), an example of such a data transmission device is disclosed.
As described in the JP 2004-274486A, in order to retrieve target user information from the directory server, the user needs to check a directory structure formed in the directory server and to input a search criteria (e.g., a keyword) which the user extracts from the directory structure and judges to be suitable for searching the directory structure for the target user information.
However, such a user operation for extracting a suitable search criteria from the directory structure of the directory server is troublesome for the user particularly in the case where the user is not familiar with the directory structure of the directory server. The user not familiar with the directory structure of the directory server may fail to obtain a desirable search result, for example, by inputting an inappropriate keyword. Even if the user has successfully inputted an appropriate keyword, the user may be confused about whether an obtained search result is an intended result.